For a goat to deliver two or even three kids at a time is not unusual, but Musiiwa Rodney Mandiwana, from the Agrilogic Farming Project in Ha-Mandiwana Magoloni, has a Boer goat that gave birth to quadruplets (four kids) in June this year.
This is, however, not a new world record. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the record for the largest litter of goats is held by a pygmy goat in Pennsylvania that gave birth to six kids in March of 2006 - a tough one to beat. Still, this 37-year-old self-taught farmer from Ha-Mandiwana in the Nzhelele valley nearly bursts with pride over his Boer goat's quadruplets.
Mandiwana has his own small farming enterprise at his home in the village, situated near a mountain, where he breeds Boer goats and free-range Orpington chickens. He said he had started farming when the Covid pandemic had struck in 2020 and the lockdown had prohibited him from going out to work. Today, he is a member of Vhembe Emerging Farmers - a group of farmers who help each other take care of their animals and plants.
"I started like everyone, with just a few goats. A friend gave me my Boer goat ram. Today I have 19 goats, of which 13 are pregnant."
He said he was confident that his goats might deliver more than three kids again. "If you take good care of your animals, they give you better results. I make sure that my animals are well taken care of. I give them clean water to start with and their shelter is cleaned regularly. When it comes to feeding, I give them nutritious food, and I always make sure that I deal with internal and external parasites because they destroy animals and their fertility."
Regarding the quadruplets, Mandiwana said that they were growing just fine. "I still keep them in the kraal. I want them to grow strong first before I let them go find food in the mountain. I also still keep a close eye on the mother. Once she is perfectly recovered from the pregnancy, I will let her out too," he said.